Brazilian Construction Company Cancels Plans for Mega-Dam in Peru

Odebrecht is withdrawing from a commitment to develop the Tambo-40 Dam on the Tambo River in the Peruvian Amazon. It is a good day for Ashaninka communities in the Amazon.

In an
official letter to the Peruvian Ministry of Energy and Mines, Odebrecht
stated that after completing preliminary studies and learning of the
strong opposition by indigenous communities, the company decided to
“respect the opinion of local populations” and withdrew from the
project.

This is a great achievement for the Ashaninka communities, who for
years have fought against dams on the Ene and Tambo Rivers. It also calls into question the Peruvian government’s plans for
building a series of dams on the Ene-Tambo River, where indigenous
communities are vehemently opposed to dam construction.

The Tambo-40 project would affect more than 14,000 indigenous peoples of
the Tambo and Ene River. To convince Odebrecht, the Ashaninka of the
Tambo River invited company officials to meet with community members in
traditional assemblies to listen to the concerns of the indigenous
peoples. The withdrawal of Odebrecht leaves the project without a
developer.

The project came dangerously close to submerging 22,000 hectares of forest, and communities
fear that the network of roads for building the dam and power lines
would open up the area for illegal activities and colonization of the
protected Otishi National Park and Ashaninka Communal Reserve. The
Ashaninka will now turn their attention to convincing Brazilian company
Electrobrás, interested in building another dam on the Tambo River – the
Tambo-60 – to withdraw.

Ashaninka Women

Tambo-40 would have been for export of hydroelectric power to Brazil and
was one of the projects contemplated under the energy agreement signed
between Peru and Brazil in June 2010. Odebrecht’s decision comes as a
blow to President Ollanta Humala, who has recommitted his government to
the agreement signed by his predecessor, President Alan García.

The
agreement commits Peru to supplying more than 6000 MW of power to
Brazil, most of which is expected to come from hydropower in the
Peruvian Amazon, which is one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots. Many
of the projects contemplated by the agreement were designed by the
Brazilian electric utility Eletrobrás in conjunction with Brazilian
multinational construction giants Odebrecht and Andrade Gutierrez, all
of which would be directly involved in dam construction with funding
from the Brazilian national development bank, BNDES.